Story+1999-10-23+Los+Angeles,+CA

´´Thank you....good evening, office supply lovers (chuckles)....yeah....I´ve kind of had a thing going all week, you know, where I´m.....I´ve been searching for Mr.Staples, you know ....and I went back in all the history books and I looked for a Governor Staples or Mayor Staples....but I haven´t had much luck.....uh....but I, uh....finally somebody said ´No, no, it´s just, just a company, you know, it´s just continuing in the trend of the corporate-naming of public space, it´s something you´ve got to get used to´....and uh, you know, I guess I understand that, I suppose, but....then I, you know, I told the folks last night I read in the papers that they´re gonna start renaming some of the major cities, you know....I thought New York was gonna be called Barnes and Noble City actually but, uh....but I was wrong, it´s actually gonna be Steak and Ale City, I think....unfortunately, I believe that your, your lovely town is gonna be called Los Hooters, I´m not sure....I´m not sure who, uh, makes these decisions....but uh....that´s uh, but Miami, they´ve got it really bad, they´re gonna, they´re just gonna become the Nike Swish Symbol, they´re not gonna have a name....gonna be like ....it´s gonna have to operate like Prince....The City Formerly Known As Miami.....yeah..... and uh.....also the, uh, governmental agencies, the FBI´s about to become Bob´s Big Boy Bureau of Investigation, unfortunately....anyway, I´ve kind of run out of jokes about it, it´s not that funny (chuckles)....yeah (chuckles)....let´s just sing one.....”
 * 23.10.99 Los Angeles, CA, intro to ´Factory´**

´´(sings ‘Take Me to the River’) That´s right, that’s where I wanna go....and I wanna be baptised in the hands of the people....I wanna find my way to that river....that river of life ....and that river of love....and the river of faith and of hope.....the river of sanctification.... and the river of transformation.....and the river of resurrection....and sexual healing....and companionship....I wanna go there tonight and I want you to go with me.....because I need to go with you.....that´s why we´re here....because you can´t get there by yourself...you can try and everybody tries, there´s always that moment in your life when you´re running and you´re hiding but in the end....in the end no-one, you can´t get there by yourself....and so I found myself as a young man....I was standing one evening before a dark grove of trees.....and I found that I was frightened to pass through those trees to go on to the other side even though I knew that that´s where the river of life, the river of a full life, was waiting along with cold beer at a reasonable price....but I stood there like a child frightened to pass through the trees and my legs were like stone and my arms felt like lead and I said ´Uh-uh, I´m not going !.... Man, I´m gonna run ´cause that´s what I know how to do, that´s what I´m good at....I understand that, I´m not going !´....because I knew there were responsobilities that waited with that life on the other side....and I couldn´t find the courage to face....those responsobilities....well, as I was about to turn, suddenly I heard a voice through the trees..... a gypsy woman....gypsy woman....and I walked through the trees and she was sitting there, I told her my problems and she said ´Man, you need help....you can´t get through these trees by yourself, they´re too deep and too dark, what you need, Son, is a band !´....so I´d like to introduce tonight the dean of the university of musical perversity, the Secretary of intelligence, on the piano, Professor Roy Bittan....standing with me at the riverside.....the Secretary of faith and friendship, keeper of all that is righteous on E Street, Silvio, Silvio, star of the ´Sopranos´, Little Stevie on the guitar....stand with me, Brother, at the riverside..... the foundation of the E Street nation, Southern man, Mr.Garry W.Tallent on the bass.... standing with me at the riverside....the Minister of the big beat, the Secretary of syncopation, star of Late Night Television, Mighty Max Weinberg on the drums.....(?) with me at the riverside....the Secretary of heart and spirit, Godfather of the guitar, the great Nils Lofgren .....standing with me at the riverside.....the Minister of mystery, the Secretary of all things unfathomable in this life, Brother Dan Federici on the organ and accordion....standing with me at the riverside....now, you can´t get there without love in your life, you can´t get there without companionship....I learned a little equation, it goes ´Brunettes are fine, blondes are fun but when it come to getting a dirty job done, it takes a (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) yeah, man, I´m looking for a (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) I got to find myself a (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) oh, now, I´m searching for a (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) I said I got to have a (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) oh, man, I´m looking for a (crowd : ´Red headed woman´) sing it, baby (Patti sings a bit of ´Rumble Doll´) the First Lady of love and sweet harmony, Miss Patti Scialfa standing with me at the riverside on guitar....thank you, baby....and man, that was good....and I looked along the riverbanks and I saw a great crowd of people waiting with their hands high in the air....but there was still something missing.... something essential, something fundamental.....something that we couldn´t go on without..... something very big....I wanna introduce the Minister of soul, the Secretary of the brotherhood, if nominated, he will not run, if elected, justice and righteousness shall prevail ....do I have to say his name ?....do I have to say his name ?...say who ?....say who ?....say who ?....say who ?....say who ?....say who ?....say who ?....say who ? ....say who ?....say who ?....say who ?....say who ?....”
 * 23.10.99 Los Angeles, CA, middle of ´Tenth Avenue Freeze Out´**

´´Alright, I´m gonna do this tonight for the folks from Children of the Night.....an organization here in L.A (?) non-profit organization, they´re dedicated to....kids from the ages of 11 to 17 who´ve been, uh.....sexually abused or forced to work out on the street for food to eat and a place to sleep, they´ve got a 24-hour hotline and....a street program that travels throughout the western United States....they have a shelter that receives children from ....every state in the union and they help these struggling kids off the street and back into a.... productive life, they´re called Children of the Night and they can use your support, they´ll be out in the lobby when you go on your way out....they´re out there on the frontline so this is for them.....”
 * 23.10.99 Los Angeles, CA, intro to ´The Ghost of Tom Joad´**

´´Ok, gonna try something I haven´t done in a long time.....play the piano (chuckles).... alright, I need some quiet for this thing ´cause I haven´t played this song in a long time.... wait a minute....one, two, testing.....I need a little more piano....oh, that´s too much, I can hear myself (chuckles) little less, that´s it.....alright, uh....this is a song I wrote as a kind of a follow-up to ´Thunder Road´, wrote it a long time ago and uh.....this is for the, uh, connoiseurs out there, I guess....I´ll give it a shot, I need a little bit of quiet.....”
 * 23.10.99 Los Angeles, CA, intro to ´The Promise´**

´´L.A !....Los Angeles !.....Mr.Staples Town !....but everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve seen people lost in the wilderness....I´ve seen people lost in loneliness....I´ve seen people lost on their cellphones.....I´ve seen people lost on the freeway....I´ve seen people lost in faithlessness.... lost in hopelessness...well, ladies and gentlemen, we´re here tonight on a search-and-rescue mission, we´re trained professionals, if you´ve been downsized, stigmatised, analyzed, paralyzed, Pokemonized, fractionalised, factionalised, pass-another-tax-cut-for-the-rich- Republicanised, it ain´t too late to save yourself, it ain´t too late, if your soul got bad credit, if your heart running on empty, your spirit bankrupt, we´re here tonight, we´re here tonight, we´re here tonight to re-educate, to resuscitate, to regenerate, to reconfiscate, to reindoctrinate, to reillustrate, to resexualate, to reliberate you with the power and the glory, with the power and the glory, with the power and the glory and the majesty, the mystery, with the ministry of rock and roll !...that´s right, that´s my job and I love doing it ! (chuckles) ....well, unlike my competitors, I shall not, I will not promise you life everlasting but I can promise you life....right now !...and all you gotta do is raise your hand and say ‘I’.....”
 * 23.10.99 Los Angeles, CA, middle of ´Light of Day´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//